His Sister's Keeper
by Avalon.Roxy
Summary: The Boogieman is back! Or is he? Is it all an elaborate desception? Has something else from Egon's past come back to haunt him? RGB AU, and my OC appears. Read at your own risk it that bothers you. Please, no destructive comments, thanks.


**His Sister's Keeper**

Cleveland, Ohio, 1968

_The footsteps coming from her room were enough to wake him. Egon Spengler got up and out of his bed and went to his sister Bethany's room to investigate the noise. Mr. and Mrs. Spengler were still asleep in their room across the hallway. "Get away from me!" Egon could hear Bethany say as he opened the door and saw what was bothering her. It was Boogieman. Usually regarded as the product of scared children's fantasies by adults and especially by his father, there it was. Terrorizing his eight-year old sister. Most of the time the Boogieman loved to scare Egon, as he had been particularly easy to frighten, since his father would never believe him whenever he told him about his appearances. And even at eleven, Egon was still having trouble outgrowing the fear. Now the Boogieman was going after his little sister. "Egon!" Bethany saw her brother standing in the doorway watching, paralyzed with fright. "Help me!" She pleaded. But Egon continued to stand there as the Boogieman advanced menacingly towards her. Bethany backed away until she was up against the window, which she liked to have opened to let in the fresh night air._

"_Yesss, more fear. Such delicious fear! Ha ha ha ha!" The Boogieman snarled with a hideous grin. Bethany could back away no further. She was now sitting on the window sill as the Boogieman continued to creep towards her._

"_Egon! Help me, please!" Bethany curled her legs up against her chest. Still, Egon was too scared to come to his sister's aid, until he saw how she was balancing precariously on the window sill._

"_Stop terrorizing my sister!" Egon barely managed to say. But the Boogieman would not stop. It was no use. "Bethany, move away from the window." Egon told her. Instead, as Bethany leaned further out the window to both get away from the monster in front of her and get down off the windowsil, she lost her balance. "Bethany!" Egon screamed as his sister disappeared out the window. All he could hear were her screams on the way down, followed by a sickening crunch. As the Boogieman took off for the nearby closet, Egon ran up to the open window. "BETHANY!" But there was no responsse. Because the window was three storeys high, and Bethany's room overlooked the cement driveway, the fall had been fatal. She lay in the driveway in an unnatural position, her neck broken. Egon continued to stare in shock out the window, not noticing that his parents after hearing the commotion had come into the room. _

"_Egon Spengler! What in blazes is going on here?" Mr. Spengler growled. Mrs Spengler glanced out the window and saw her daughter lying in the driveway, motionless._

"_Oh my God! Bethany!" She screamed and ran out of the room, then downstairs and outside to where Bethany was. Mr. Spengler pulled Egon away from the window and turned him around to face him._

"_Egon, what transpired here?" He asked. Egon gave his father a blank look, still in shock._

"_I-I couldn't stop her."_

"_What? Egon what are you talking about?"_

"_He was standing right in front of her." Egon replied, emotionless._

"_Who? Who was there?" Mr. Spengler asked. No reply. He shook him. "Who was there Egon?"_

"_The Boogieman." Egon said, still devoid of emotion._

"_Egon Spengler I have told you time and time again that such a creature does not exist. It's a figment of your imagination. You should know that by now!"_

"_But father I saw him!" Egon pleaded._

"_Not another word Egon!" Mr. Spengler snapped. He stormed out of the room and went downstairs, then outside to join his wife. Egon peered out the window, looking down at his parents below. Mrs. Spengler, sobbing uncontrollably, rocking back and forth with Bethany in her arms. Mr. Spengler, trying to console his wife while also keeping himself together with that Spengler stoicism known throughout their family. He looked up, and seeing Egon looking out the window, could hold himself together no longer. "How could you let this happen?" Mr. Spengler yelled, consumed with grief and rage, "She was just a little girl!"_

_

* * *

_Twenty years later, New York City

Egon was having dinner with his half-brother Kristoff from his father's previous marriage, and as Mrs. Spengler came into the dining room with another dish, Mr. Spengler came in to join them. With him was Bethany. "Bethany!" Egon exclaimed as he got up from the table and gave her a hug.

"Whoa! Egon, take it easy!" She said as he held her close. "What's this all about?" Egon released her from his embrace.

"I, I thought you were dead." Bethany looked straight at him, serious.

"Egon, I am dead."

"What? But, how?" Egon was perplexed.

"I died, and you let it happen." Right before Egon's eyes, Bethany appeared to melt. Her skin rotted away and disintegrated, leaving behind a skeleton. "I'm dead Egon, and it's all your fault!  
The skeleton taunted, its jaw moving up and down in a creepy display. Egon backed away from the skeleton that once was his sister, and backed into someone. It was his father.

"How could you let this happen?" Mr. Spengler yelled. "She was just a little girl!...little girl...little girl..." and everything faded away...

The words continued to resound inside Egon's head, rousing him from a troubled sleep. He found himself in his bed, in the sleeping quarters he shared with his fellow Ghostbusters Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz and Winston Zeddemore. The three of continued to sleep soundly, unaware of the nightmare that had awakened their friend and colleague. Egon got up and headed downstairs into the kitchen to fix himself some hot chocolate. While waiting for the kettle to boil, Egon went into the living room. Light from the TV illuminated the place as Clara Hamilton slept on the couch after falling asleep while watching a late-night movie. The kettle went off with a ding, signalling that the water was hot. After preparing the hot chocolate, Egon went back into the living room and sat on the chair next to the couch where Clara slept. An infomercial played on the TV, advertising some product claiming to make people's lives easier. When Egon was finished with the hot chocolate, he turned off the TV, put the cup in the sink and went back upstairs to bed.

The next day, the phone rang as Janine walked into the firehouse to begin her work day. "It's like they know exactly what time I arrive." She muttered, picking up the phone. "Ghostbusters, what's the problem?" After taking down the details, she hit the alarm, waking up the guys.

"I swear, these ghosts are like clockwork." Winston groused with a yawn, stretching. He shook Peter gently. "C'mon Pete, rise and shine." Peter rolled over onto his back.

"Morning already? And it seems like I just went to sleep." Peter groaned sleepily.

"Yeah we all feel that way Peter." Ray told him.

"Don't make us sic Slimer on you." Winston added. Peter sat up.

"Alright, alright. I'm up." Peter grumbled. He wasn't the only one having trouble waking up. Egon was still tired from the night before, and he had this feeling that the day was not going to be an easy one.

Clara was already up, and she met with the guys at Janine's desk. "Fell asleep on the couch again Clara?" Ray asked.

"Yeah, never did get to see the ending of that movie. Again." Clara remarked.

"What's the call about today Janine?" Winston asked.

"They need you at the warehouse on Delancey again." Janine replied, handing him the work order.

"Great. Must be that same ghost we were unable to catch the last time we were there." Ray grumbled.

"Well this time that ghost is definitely toast!" Peter said as they all filed into the ECTO-1.

"Isn't that what you said last time Peter?" Janine asked sarcastically.

"I heard that!" Peter called back.

After an hour's worth of chasing that ghost that had previously eluded them, the Ghostbusters finally caught it, and could head back to the firehouse to celebrate this fairly routine bust. But for Egon, it felt anything but routine. And the others knew it, because while he normally doesn't let anything get to him easily, they could tell that something had been frustrating Egon. He had been rather snappy towards them on the job. When they got back to the firehouse, while Peter, Ray, Winston and Clara all went into the living room to relax, Egon didn't join them. Instead he went into the lab to work on more of his equations and tend to his collections of spores, molds and fungus. "Any of you know what's up with Egon today?" Clara asked, "He seemed rather, moody."

"I guess he never told you." Winston replied.

"No." Clara raised an eyebrow. "Tell me what?"

"It's around this time of year that he lost his sister." Ray said.

"Oh. I never knew he even had a sister."

"He didn't give many of the details. All we know is, she was eight, and there was an accident." Winston told her.

"Yeah, even he doesn't like to talk about it with us, and we've known him for longer that you have. We just leave him be around this time." Ray added.

"Giving Slimer more opportunities to bother me." Peter commented. The three of them shot him a few disapproving looks. "What? It was just a joke."

"Not cool Peter." Clara said.

* * *

Two days later, a call came into the firehouse all the way from a place that's very familiar to Egon. After Janine hung up the phone, there was no need to ring the alarm as all the Ghostbusters were already there. "I just got a call from a realtor in Ohio. They need you to go to Cleveland."

"Cleveland? What's this about?" Ray asked as he and the rest of Ghostbusters approached Janine's desk.

"Apparently they're having trouble selling this house because anytime they do, the buyers report strange incidents and ghost sightings. Get this, the last family before they moved, reported that their children were seeing the Boogieman coming out of their closets."

"The Boogieman?" Egon asked, perplexed.

"But, how is that possible? We captured the Boogieman last year. Unless there's been a breach in the Containment Unit, he should still be in there." Winston said.

"Maybe we should take a look in there, just to be sure." Ray said as he and Egon headed downstairs to the basement, where the Containment Unit was. Egon sat down at the computer terminal to look up the containment logs while Ray viewed inside the Containment Unit through the viewing port.

"The containment logs are showing no breaches, and the sensors are still reading his valence. The Boogieman is still contained. Anything going on in there Ray?" Egon asked.

"I saw him. He's definitely still in there." Both of them went back upstairs and told this to the rest of the team.

"So how is it that people are still seeing a Boogieman?" Winston asked.

"Better yet, why haven't we received other reports of sightings?" Clara added.

"Maybe the Boogieman has a twin." Peter said. He took the paper with the address on it from Janine. "Anyone think this could be a hoax?"

"Or a sensor glitch?" Winston asked.

"I think we should investigate this." Egon said.

"Of course you do. We all know this could be another chance to duke it out with your archenemy." Peter remarked. Egon was about to reply, but then he glanced at the paper with the address on it. Snatching it from Peter, the colour drained from his face. He recognized the address immediately.

"Something wrong Egon?" Winston asked.

"It's my former residence from when I was a child."

"Hey, a trip down memory lane! How about that?" Once again, Peter was met with looks of disapproval.

"Peter, are you ever serious?" Clara asked.

* * *

On the first day of travel when they left New York City for Cleveland, everyone was silent. The only noise was the music coming from the radio. "There's more to this story than what you already know." Egon said, breaking the silence.

"Story? More? What story Egon?" Clara asked.

"It's not only myself who's had his fair share of run-ins with the Boogieman. My sister Bethany did too." Egon replied, summoning up the courage, trying not to show how deeply affected he was by what happened all those years ago. "One night, the Boogieman was terrorizing Bethany, rousing me from my sleep. I watched as it crept towards her, drawing in the fear that was in her eyes. That is the main source of its strength. He had my sister backed up against her bedroom window, which was open because she liked having the air come into her room. Bethany was sitting on the window sill, trying to keep the Boogieman from touching her. I attempted to ward him off, but he was more intent on Bethany. The younger a child is, the more fear they have. I told her to move away from the window, and in her attempt to get down from the window sill, she," Egon sighed, swallowed, trying to hold himself together, "Bethany fell out the window." Clara put her hand to her mouth in shock.

"Oh my God." Ray whispered.

"And that was how she died?" Winston asked.

"Affirmative, her room was three storeys above the driveway. The fall broke her neck, but it was an epideral hematoma that ended her life." Egon replied, keeping himself from crying. "I can still hear the crunch from her hitting the cement."

"Wow." Even Peter was in shock at this revelation from Egon. "I, man, I don't know what to say."

"Don't crack any jokes Peter." Ray chided.

"Who's joking Ray? I wasn't going to. I'm not that insensitive."

"I appreciate that Peter. So, now you all really know why whenever I heart of anything regarding the Boogieman, I have to investigate. Not just because he's the reason I began investigating the paranormal, not just to help with overcoming my own fears, but also for Bethany's sake. And my parents as well."

"Your parents?" Clara asked.

"They would never tell me directly, but I've had the feeling ever since her death that they held me responsible. My father especially so."

"Egon, I'm sure that's totally not true." Winston said.

"My father was so angry that night. I remember his exact words, 'How could you let this happen? She was just a little girl!'."

"I don't think he really meant that Egon. It sounded like he was in state of profound grief and shock." Clara told him.

"You never met him Clara. My father was rarely given to bouts of emotion. He was always stoic, collected, never irrational, always in control. Granted, there were the occasional times, like when I got an A minus on a school examination, or took apart something without permission. That night however, it felt more intense. And I'm certain I felt that same intensity from him when he would administer punishments for times I got into trouble."

"How about your half-brother? How did he react to Bethany's death?" Ray asked.

"He wasn't there when it occurred, but I felt that even he began to regard me differently after she died." Egon replied.

"Egon, don't think of me as insensitive for asking this, but are you sure you weren't imagining that you were being treated differently? I mean, even your own bother? That's cold." Peter said.

"Kristoff has been more like my father than I have, even though he didn't live with my family and I. He got over his fear of the Boogieman earlier than I, and even chose to follow in my father's footsteps, going into the same line of work as he did."

"Hmm, guess it does kind of make you wonder after all, doesn't it?" Peter said.

The next day after meeting with the realtor and picking up the key to the house, the Ghostbusters arrived at Egon's childhood home. Aside from updates to the surrounding houses and yards, the neighbourhood looked pretty much the same from when Egon and his family lived there up until 1973. Winston opened the door and everyone stepped inside. Without furniture, the empty house looked so much bigger inside. "It's so eerie." Clara commented.

"I'm with you on that." Ray agreed. They pulled out their PKE meters to take scans of the place. There was no sign of activity until they all headed upstairs to the third floor where all the bedrooms were, with Egon leading the way. As they drew closer to the room that was once Bethany's, all their PKE meters lit up. "There's something definitely here, " Ray said, "Egon, is this where your sister slept?"

"Affirmative," Egon replied pushing open the door. Inside, an ominous glow was coming from the closet. Before Egon could say anything, a horrible cackle was heard. "I've been waiting for you." A familiar, grovelly voice said. The closet door creaked open, and an entity familiar to the Ghostbusters, especially Egon, appeared before them. Egon pulled out his proton gun. "So, we meet again Egon." The Boogieman said with an evil, ugly grin.

"I don't understand how you escaped containment, but I can assure you, this time escape will be impossible." Egon sneered, facing down his archenemy. He armed his proton gun, raising it to fire.

"Egon wait! I don't think this is the real Boogieman we're dealing with!" Ray said/

"What are you talking about Ray? Can't you see that he's right there?"

"Look at your PKE meter! The readings are all wrong! If that was the real Boogieman, the valence would be much higher!" Winston told him. Egon looked at his PKE meter.

"You're correct." He powered down his proton gun, and put it back in its holster. "But, it can't be." Egon looked back up. "If you're not the Boogieman, then who or what are you?"

"I'm glad you asked." Right before Egon and everyone else's eyes, the entity started to change, shrinking, losing its claws, its sharp fangs and evil eyes. Now, it took on the form of a little girl. "It's me Egon." The little girl looked no more than eight years old, with blonde hair and glasses. She bore a striking resemblance to Egon, albeit younger. "It's me, your sister Bethany."

"Are you the reason for the disturbances and the recent Boogieman sightings?" Egon asked.

"That is correct brother. I did it so that I could bring you here."

"But why? Why the deception?"

"Uh, Egon?"

"Yes, what is it Peter?" Egon asked, annoyed at this latest interruption.

"I hate to break up this lovely reunion, but I still don't like the looks of these readings I'm getting on the meter here."

"Very clever of you,human!" The ghost snarled, its eyes glowing. With the raising of its hand, it sent the other four Ghostbusters flying out the door of the room, like paper caught in a wind. The bedroom door slammed shut. Egon tried to run towards the door but was held back by an invisible force.

"For a little girl, she sure packs a whallop." Peter remarked, dazed.

"That was no little girl." Ray said, getting up and pushing on the door. "It's jammed." Clara tried to open it. No luck. She kicked it. But still, the door was stuck.

"Egon!" Winston pounded on the door. Peter rammed himself into the door. Nothing worked.

"Pitiful humans, they're no match for me!" the ghost masquerading as Bethany laughed.

"Bethany, why are you doing this?" Egon asked.

"You still don't get it, do you brother? Not even with all your brilliance, you still can't figure it out?" The glow in its eyes turned red.

"Bethany, if this is about when you fell out of the window, I'm very sorry about that. I never meant for it to happen."

"No Egon. You killed me. You allowed me to die!" it yelled.

"Bethany, please. I tried to stop him." Egon pleaded. But the entity would not listen. It lifted a hand, pulling Egon off the floor and into the air.

"No! You killed me!" As it held Egon in the air, the entity began to change, morphing from a little girl into a creature most grotesque, it's hands and feet spouting claws. "And now, I will kill you!" it growled, mouth full of fangs. With its clawed hand, it took Egon by the collar of his flightsuit and wrapped its other hand around Egon's neck. "Now you will know what a frail, small, pitiful creature you really are!" The entity squeezed its hand that it had around Egon's neck. Egon could feel the claws perforating his skin, the warmth of his blood as it trickled from the wounds. He struggled to breathe, feeling the life in him rapidly fading away.

"Bethany!" Egon sputtered, struggling to speak. "I-I'm sorry! I should've protected you. But I was too wrapped up in my own fear!" In that brief moment, the entity that had been Egon's momentarily forgot about its thirst for vengeance, and began to relax its hold on Egon. This weakened its power keeping the door closed, and the other Ghostbusters burst in, proton guns armed and ready.

"Fire!" Ray shouted.

"NOOOO!" the entity shouted, caught in the beams. It released its hold on Egon completely and he fell to the floor, not moving.

"Egon!" Winston yelled.

"We'll get to him later!" Peter said, "Right now let's put this bad girl on ice!" The entity writhed and squirmed as it was held in the beams.

"NOOO! And I was so close!" it screamed. Egon began to sit up, and watched as Ray pulled out and layed down his trap, rolling it under the ghost as Peter, Winston and Clara held onto it with their beams. "NOOO!" it yelled as it got sucked into the trap. The little doors snapped shut, then, silence.

"And another one bites the dust!" Peter whooped for joy.

"No!" Egon ran for the trap, but was held back by his colleagues.

"Egon what are you doing? That thing was about to kill you!" Winston said.

"But it was my sister!" Egon cried.

"No Egon. Whatever that thing was, it was not your sister." Clara told him.

"Your friend is right." Another voice said. The room began to fill with a brilliant light as the image of a little girl appeared before them. This time, it was Bethany, Egon's little sister. "It's really me Egon."

"Bethany?" Egon stepped towards the girl.

"Yes my brother, I'm really here." He reached out to touch her face, only to have his hand slip through.

"Why have you not crossed over?" Egon asked.

"I made several attempts, but I was being held prisoner here."

"By that other entity I assume?"

"Yes. It had always roamed here, harmless. Until it began absorbing the negative emotions from the people who lived in this house." Bethany explained.

"People like my father?"

"Especially him. Because he was so rarely given to emotional expression, anytime that he did, that ghost would draw on those occasions twice as much."

"That would explain why it was so vengeful."

"Well, part of that was my fault. When I died, I felt anger about the manner of my death. I was angry at you. That was another reason why couldn't cross over. I had to forgive you. I know now Egon, I know it was not you fault."

"No Bethany, it was. It was my fault." Egon began to cry. "I knew you were afraid of the Boogieman like I was, and I tried to stop that night. But I was too consumed with fear. I'm sorry Bethany, I'm so, so sorry." Egon sobbed, falling to his knees, holding onto the grief no longer. Bethany placed her hand on his shoulder. The other Ghostbusters watched, never having seen Egon cry like this.

"Please don't Egon. It's not your fault. I know you afraid. I know you tried to stop the Boogieman. As I tried to get down from the window sill and away from him, I lost my balance. It was a freak accident." Egon wiped his face.

"What about father?" He asked. "I felt so certain that he did not share that conclusion."

"He was in a state of grief at the time and did not mean what he said. He came to realize that you were not responsible. Though, it did take some convincing from mother." Bethany told him."I have to leave now Egon. I hope now after all I have said to you, it gives you a sense of peace.

"Perhaps it will." Egon said. Bethany floated up off the floor.

"Goodbye Egon. Until we meet again." As Bethany slowly faded away, the room filled with a brilliant light. Everyone had to shield their eyes, it was so bright. When the light faded away, everyone uncovered their eyes. The room was empty. Bethany was gone. Ray, Winston, Peter and Clara pulled out their PKE meters. Nothing. The antennae didn't even twitch.

"Looks like she's crossed over." Ray said. "Are you alright Egon?"

"Affirmative, thank you. I will be fine." Egon replied. He got up and dusted himself off.

"I had a feeling she would be right." Clara told him. "It was nothing more than a freak accident."

"Yes, although, it's going to take some time to fully accept that. For years, I felt like I really was to blame. Even if my father didn't hold me responsible, we never even talked about it before he died.

"You'll work through this. You always manage to." Winston said.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'd like to head home." Peter told everyone.

"Yeah, I'm with Peter on that." Ray added.

And with that, they left the house where Egon once used to live, then returned the key to the real estate agent. While the other four were at the hotel, Egon went to see him mother, to tell her about what happened. The next day, they began their trip back to New York City, and Egon could finally start to forgive himself, to find that sense of peace after all those years of being unable to.

**The End**


End file.
